Redhead in the Rain
by thecrazyfanficcer
Summary: [ONESHOT, movieverse] Heh, another romantic one... Takes place after the first movie but sometime before the second. It's got love, a redhead, a nerdy boy, a taxi, and rain. Lots and lots of rain.


**Hey, everyone! I have this thing for short romantic one-shots, and that's what you see before you. On with it, fanficcers!**

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Mary Jane Watson huddled miserably underneath the umbrella.

The turquoise plastic offered some small protection from the sheets of rain that fell in a springtime torrent of brackish, freezing raindrops. MJ gritted her teeth furiously and brought her gaze forward, past the cascade of gray rainwater, mist, and smog that obscured sight for more than a few miles into the distance. The tall spires of New York City rose up against the stormy sky; prominent among them was the Daily Bugle headquarters.

It was a shocking thought that, while the employees were feeding on raspberry doughnuts and chocolate cappuccinos in behind its closed doors, she, Mary Jane Watson, famous theater actress, was sheltering under the meager shade of a cheap plastic turquoise umbrella. She took that moment to look out from under the umbrella, but that was one of her biggest mistakes on this downcast, miserable day.

Almost instantly, she was blasted with a waterfall of freezing raindrops which cascaded through her designer coat, drenching the soft plush and pressing freezing fingers down onto her skin. MJ shivered, feeling the cold splatter of rain seep onto her back. She carefully stuck her head back under the umbrella again to avoid the frigid, glacial downpour.

But Mary Jane felt a pang of loneliness in her heart that sent her normally vibrant red hair limp and her steps leaden. Standing here, alone amongst the frigid torrent of rainwater, made her wish for the steps of someone quick and agile, someone whose steps would relieve her of her misery.

How she wished he was here now.

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Peter Parker cursed the rain.

The glacial torrent of polluted river water was furious and freezing. He felt its relentless patter on the back of his multicolored suit as he stod calmly atop a skyscraper. You'd expect that the New York Board of Administration could have forbidden littering of the dirty canal that ran through the city by now, but now they were occupied with more important matters.

That was, in essence, the capture of one friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.

That meant him, of course. It was sure hard being a superhero, or so Peter knew as he crouched behind the spire of a fifty-storey high skyscraper that pretty much reared up over everything else from the ground up. He wasn't swinging by the city as he normally would have; the frigid river water soaked through his suit and was making him feel extremely uncomfortable. But the city needed to be saved, as it most often did, and fleeing in the face of danger wasn't going to help at all. So, as it was, he was crouched here, ready to obey duty's call despite the sheets of rain that were causing extreme discomfort. It had really been a good choice, Peter mulled as he stared up at the spiralling drops of rainwater, following fate on his path of destiny. He had earned a lot from it - namely, a sense of justice and righteousness deep within his heart that could never be quelled.

But huddling here in midst of the more-than-drizzling downpour made him remember someone, someone red-haired, with who he could confide all his worries in.

How he wished she was there now.

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Mary Jane, even though she was now sheltered comfortably under the roof of a bright yellow taxi, had given way to her pangs of loneliness for the man she had known all these years and yet never really known.

Peter was the sort of guy anyone could like, friendly and studious, and Mary Jane had never realized she had a crush on him before. She felt her face flush at the thought of it. Which was strange, considering how a few moments ago she knew she had been wishing for Spider-Man, local arachnid superhero.

MJ tested her options. In the space of a few seconds, she;d been wishing for two different men to come and comfort here, to confide in. And yet, they both bore a resemblance to each other, a likeness that made her doubt her previous thoughts. Both Peter and Spider-Man had pretty much the same build: quick, agile, and, if Peter hadn't been the person he was, she would have sworn athletic. There were definitely other differences, such as the incident a few months ago.

When she had kissed Spider-Man that short time ago, Mary Jane had noticed that he'd been only partially wearing his mask. His voice had seemed younger - younger, and also oddly familiar. Strange, she thought as she stared at the murky landscape from the safe seat of the yellow taxi. The rain was pouring, and yet her mood was rising at the thought.

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Peter was pining for Mary Jane.

MJ had kissed him, under the dark light of a New York alleyway, as his alter ego, Spider-Man. She hadn't known who it had been at the time, but now he was wondering. She was intelligent, Peter knew that much, clever and yet unchangeable in her own little way. Mary Jane was the girl of his dreams, and a redhead to top it all off. When they'd been kissing each other, Peter had felt odd, as if she had been able to see right through him. Maybe she had, but then again...

Peter tried to shrug it off, which turned out to be a good decision. He suddenly caught sight of numerous heavily muscled thugs swarming over the street. They were blocking cars and buses from crossing as they tore through the street and came like a squadron of black hornets, to where a young couple were clinging to each other in horror. Some of the thugs had crowbars and clearly knew what they were doing, while a few others didn't; no doubt, though, they all were dangerous.

Peter abandoned his lofty and somewhat uncomfortable perch in favour of fighting the bad guys. In a few seconds, the only thing to be seen that day was a tall, lean figure, swinging past the skyscrapers by aid of a single webbed strand of gossamer.

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Mary Jane was ready.

And when MJ was ready, you did not want to be there. She was self-reliant and perfectly capable of handling herself; indeed, if you happened to peer down to the heart of New York City, on that dark and dreary afternoon, you would see a redhead figure with vivid hair, making her way through the swarm of thugs, cool as anything. (Making her way is an understatement, of course, but, suffice to say, it wasn't long before five of the criminals were clutching injured body parts and groaning.)

There were not one but two saviours there, as MJ noticed as she fought her way through the mob of baddies. It was Spider-Man, no doubt; in a few seconds, half of the thugs were moaning half-heartedly and the other half was surrounded by webbing and gagged. Working together, they managed to free the young couple from the gaggle of thugs before going their own ways.

But Mary Jane, undoubtedly, knew what she was doing.

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"Spider-Man."

It wasn't a question, or an accusation. It was simply an acknowledgement.

The red-masked figure stared at the red-haired woman; her eyes were bright - in a way, it made his spirits soar. New York's local superhero blinked through the mask but dared not move from his lofty position as she beckoned to him from the ground.

"Come here."

The two of them stood staring at each other for a few seconds, until the superhero swung so that he was a few metres above her.

"Lower," the redhead commanded, but the superhero stayed put. She stared at the figure once more, uttering the word that made New York history.

"Peter."

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"How did you know it was me?" Peter Parker complained jokingly to Mary Jane Watson as the two escaped the downcast downpour under New York's skylight. Just one young couple, side by side as they tried to escape the rain, right?

"It was too obvious," replied MJ, and draped one hand over his shoulder.

You got that right. Life of love, love of life; it all came out to the same thing, even if your boyfriend was your city's only superhero or your girlfriend was the hottest girl in town.

After all, life is love and love is life.

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**Buh bye, and a very good day to you, peeps!**


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